Venus of Milo EDWARD R. SILL
Venus and Adonis WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Adonis in "Epic of Hades" LEWIS MORRIS
Death of Adonis THEOCRITUS,
trans. by ANDREW LANG
Laus Veneris ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
The "Lament for Adonis" by Bion has been translated by Andrew Lang,
Edwin Arnold, and Mrs. Browning.
The following stanza is from Tennyson:--
"Idalian Aphrodite beautiful,
Fresh as the foam, new-bathed in Paphian wells,
With rosy slender fingers backward drew
From her warm brows and bosom her deep hair
Ambrosial, golden round her lucid throat
And shoulder; from the violets her light foot
Shone rosy-white, and o'er her rounded form
Between the shadows of the vine bunches
Floated the glowing sunlights, as she moved."
XIX
The worship of Aphrodite was probably of Semitic origin, but was early
introduced into Greece. The Aphrodite of Homer and Hesiod displays both
Oriental and Grecian characteristics. Among the Phœnicians Venus is
known as Astarte, among the Assyrians as Istar. There were temples and
groves dedicated to Venus in many places, and in some of them--Paphos
for instance--gorgeous annual festivals were held. The festival of
Venus that was celebrated in Rome in April was called the Veneralia.
Sapho calls Aphrodite the "star-throned, incorruptible, wile-weaving
child of Zeus."
XX
One of the many myths connected with Venus was that of Berenice who,
fearing for her husband's life, prayed to the goddess to protect him
as he set out to battle. She vowed to give her beautiful hair as a
sacrifice to Venus if he returned home in safety. The prayer was
granted, and Berenice's luxuriant tresses were laid on the goddess's
shrine, whence they soon mysteriously disappeared. When an astrologer
was consulted in regard to the supposed theft, he pointed to a comet in
the sky, and declared that the gods had placed Berenice's hair among
the stars to shine forever in memory of her wifely sacrifice.
XXI
References and allusions to Cupid abound in poetry. A few of the
best-known poems are:--
Eros EDMUND GOSSE
Ode to Psyche JOHN KEATS
The Lost Eros THOMAS ASHE
The Unknown Eros COVENTRY PATMORE
Story of Cupid and Psyche WILLIAM MORRIS
Hue and Cry After Cupid BEN JONSON
The following is a charming little poem by John Lyly:--
"Cupid and my Campaspe play'd
At cards for kisses, Cupid pay'd.
He stakes his quiver, bow and arrows,
His mother's doves, and teeme of sparrows,
Looses them too; then downe he throwes
The coerall of his lippe, the rose
Growing on's cheek (but none knows how),
With these, the crystal of his brow,
And then the dimple of his chin;
All these did my Campaspe winne;
At last hee set her both his eyes;
She won, and Cupid blind did rise.
O love! has she done this to thee?
What shall (alas) become of mee?"
XXII
There is a very old story of a woman's love for her husband and her
efforts to win him back from Death which is known in every part of
India. On a certain night in the year millions of Hindu women celebrate
a rite in honor of Savitri. The story is told in the Mahabharata, an
ancient epic of India.
Walter Pater, in "Marius the Epicurean," gives the story of Cupid and
Psyche as contained in Apuleius. Many of the incidents of the story
will be found in modern fairy tales and romances such as "Beauty and
the Beast"; Grimm's "Twelve Brothers"; the Gaelic stories: "The Three
Daughters of King O'Hara," "Fair, Brown and Trembling," "The Daughter
of the Skies"; and the Norse tale, "East of the Sun and West of the
Moon."
XXIII
The most amusing use made of the story of Pyramus and Thisbe is in
Shakespeare's "Midsummer-Night's Dream," Act III, Sc. 2, and Act V, Sc.
1, which is a burlesque of what was, in the original story in Ovid, a
tragedy.
XXIV
Poems on "Hero and Leander" have been written by Chistopher Marlowe,
Leigh Hunt, Thomas Hood, and Thomas Moore. Keats wrote a sonnet, "On a
Picture of Leander."
Byron attempted Leander's feat of swimming across the Hellespont, a
thing that was considered impossible until the English poet proved its
feasibility by performing it himself. The distance in the narrowest
part is almost a mile, and there is a constant current setting out from
the Sea of Marmora. Since Byron's time the swimming of the Hellespont
has been achieved by others; but it still remains a test of strength
and skill.
XXV
Various modern stories have been based upon the myth of Pygmalion. One
of the best known is "The Venus of Ille," by Prosper Mérimée.
Poems:--
The New Pygmalion ANDREW LANG
Pygmalion and the Image WILLIAM MORRIS
Pygmalion the Sculptor ROBERT BUCHANAN
XXVI
Amphion had a twin brother named Zethus who, however, had none of the
musician's artistic ability. The brothers heard that their mother
Antiope had been put aside by her second husband Lycus, in order that
he might marry another wife; so Amphion and Zethus hastened to Thebes,
where they found things worse than they had imagined, for Antiope was
thrust into prison and subjected to very cruel treatment. The brothers
besieged the city; and, after taking possession of it, put Lycus to
death. Then they tied Dirce, who had been the cause of their mother's
suffering, to the tail of a wild bull, and let it drag her over the
stones until she was dead. This punishment of Dirce is the subject
of a famous piece of sculpture called the "Farnese Bull" (as it once
belonged to the Farnese family), now in the National Museum at Naples.
Poem:--
Amphion ALFRED TENNYSON
XXVII
Orpheus's lute was placed in the heavens as the bright constellation
Lyra.
The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is often alluded to in poetry. Pope
has used it to illustrate the power of music in his "Ode for St.
Cecilia's Day," and the wonderful beauty of the nightingale's song over
the grave of Orpheus is alluded to by Southey in his "Thalaba."
The song of the nightingale seemed to the ancients so plaintive
that, wishing to account for its sadness, they invented the story
of Philomela. King Tereus, having wearied of his wife Procne, tore
out her tongue by the roots and then married her sister Philomela,
pretending that his wife was dead. Procne informed her sister of the
horrible truth by means of a web into which she wove her story. To
revenge themselves upon the king, the sisters killed the boy Itylus
(son of Tereus and Procne) and served him up as food to his father. To
punish them for this wickedness the gods changed Procne into a swallow,
and Philomela into a nightingale, which forever bemoans the murdered
Itylus. The king, Tereus, they transformed into a hawk.
Poems:--
The Power of Music WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
Eurydice and Orpheus ROBERT BROWNING
Orpheus and Eurydice LEWIS MORRIS
Eurydice JAMES R. LOWELL
Eurydice EDWARD DOWDEN
Waking of Eurydice EDMUND GOSSE
XXVIII
The Muses were the daughters of Jupiter and Mnemosyne, goddess of
memory. Although they sometimes united in one grand song, they had
separate duties and powers. Apollo as leader of the choir of Muses was
called Musagetes.
Clio, the Muse of history, recorded the great deeds of heroes, and was
usually represented with a laurel wreath, and a book and stylus.
Euterpe, the Muse of lyric poetry, was represented with a flute and
garlands of flowers.
Thalia, the Muse of comedy, was also the patroness of pastoral poetry,
and so was often represented with a shepherd's crook as well as a mask.
Melpomene, the Muse of tragedy, wore a crown of gold, and wielded a
dagger and a scepter.
Terpsichore, the Muse of choral dance and song, was usually portrayed
in the act of dancing.
Erato, the Muse of love poetry, held a lyre.
Polyhymnia, the Muse of sacred poetry, also presided over rhetoric.
Calliope, the Muse of epic and heroic poetry, wore a laurel crown.
Urania, the Muse of astronomy, held mathematical instruments.
XXIX
Mars's attendants, or some say his children, were Eris (Discord),
Phobos (Alarm), Metus (Fear), Demios (Dread), and Pallor (Terror).
As founder of Rome, Romulus was its first king, and ruled over the
people so tyrannically that the senators determined to get rid of him.
So one day when an eclipse plunged the city into sudden darkness, the
senators killed Romulus, cut his body into pieces, and hid them under
their wide togas. When daylight returned, and the people looked about
for their king,--for all the citizens had assembled on the Forum,--the
senators informed them that Romulus had been carried off by the
immortal gods and would never return. After this Romulus was worshiped
as a god under the name of Quirinus, and a temple was built on one of
the seven hills of Rome, which has since been known as Mount Quirinal.
Yearly festivals in honor of Romulus were held in Rome under the name
of Quirinalia.
XXX
Homer gives two versions of the story of Vulcan's lameness,--one,
that Jupiter threw him out of heaven for helping his mother against
Jupiter's will; and the other, that he was born deformed, and that
Juno, ashamed of his ugliness, cast him out of heaven.
(1) "Yea once ere this, when I was fain to save thee (Juno), he
caught me by my foot and hurled me from the heavenly threshold.
All day I flew, and at the set of sun I fell in Lemnos, and
little life was in me."
(2) "She (Thetis) delivered me when pain came upon me from my
great fall through the ill-will of my shameless mother who
would fain have hid me away for that I was lame."
He spake and from the anvil rose limping, a huge bulk, but
under him his slender legs moved nimbly. The bellows he set
away from the fire, and gathered all his gear wherewith
he worked into a silver chest; and with a sponge he wiped
his face and hands and sturdy neck and shaggy breast, and
did on his doublet and took a stout staff and went forth
limping.--_Iliad_, Book I and Book XVIII.
Vulcan's children were mostly monsters; but he is also the reputed
father of Servius Tullius, sixth king of Rome, by a slave Ocrisia whom
he visited in the form of a bright flame, which played harmlessly about
her.
Vulcan was worshiped by all blacksmiths and artisans; and great
festivals, called the Vulcanalia and the Hephæstia, were celebrated in
his honor.
XXXI
There were many versions of the creation of the world among the Greeks
and Romans, but the most popular was the following: At first there
was nothing but a confused mass in which land, sea, and air were all
merged in one substance. Over this shapeless mass reigned a careless
deity named Chaos who shared his throne with his wife Nyx (or Nox) the
goddess of Night. They were dethroned by their son Erebus (Darkness)
who ruled over the universe with his children Æther (Light) and Hemera
(Day). These two then succeeded to the throne, and by their combined
efforts, together with the help of their own child Eros (Amor or
Love) created Pontus (the Sea) and Gæa (the Earth), also called Ge,
Tellus, Terra. The earth was divided into two equal parts by Pontus,
and around it flowed the great river Oceanus. Soon Gæa created Uranus
(Heaven), and these two powerful deities took possession of all the
universe, and became the parents of twelve gigantic children, the
Titans, whose strength was so great that their father Uranus grew much
afraid of them. To prevent their ever uniting against him he hurled
them, soon after their birth, into the dark abyss called Tartarus,
which was situated far under the earth. Here he chained his six sons,
Oceanus, Cœus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, and Saturn (Cronos or Time)
and his six daughters (also called the Titanides), Ilia, Rhea, Themis,
Thetis, Mnemosyne, and Phœbe. Later on, Uranus thrust into Tartarus his
other children, the Cyclops, who made the darkness hideous with their
incessant clamor.
Gæa was not pleased at this treatment of her children, so she descended
into Tartarus to urge the Titans to conspire against their father. But
they were all too fearful of the great Uranus and none dared defy him
except Saturn, who, having been released from his chains by his mother,
went out of Tartarus armed with a scythe that Gæa had given him. He
came upon Uranus unawares, bound him fast, and took possession of the
throne. Then he released his sisters and brothers, and the Titans, glad
to escape from their dreadful bondage, agreed to accept Saturn as their
ruler. He chose his sister Rhea (Cybele) for his wife, and gave his
brothers and sisters different parts of the universe to govern.
Meanwhile old Uranus had told Saturn, when the latter wrested from him
his throne, that he himself would one day be dethroned by his children.
So when Rhea bore her first son, Saturn determined to defy the prophecy
and promptly swallowed him. One child after another was thus disposed
of; and at last Rhea resolved to save her youngest son by stratagem.
As soon as Jupiter was born, his mother concealed him, and was able to
persuade Saturn into swallowing a large stone which she had wrapped in
swaddling clothes. Then Rhea intrusted her child to the care of the
Melian nymphs, who bore him off to a cave on Mount Ida. Here a goat
(Amalthea) was procured as nurse, and it fulfilled its duties so well
that it was later placed in the heavens as a constellation.
When Rhea considered her son strong enough to cope with his powerful
father, she urged him to attack Saturn, who, surprised at the sudden
appearance of a son of whose existence he was unaware, was defeated
and forced to resign his power to Jupiter. Then by means of a nauseous
drink prepared by Metis, a daughter of Oceanus, Saturn was made to
disgorge the unfortunate children he had swallowed: Neptune, Pluto,
Vesta, Ceres, and Juno.
XXXII
Poems:--
Demeter and Persephone ALFRED TENNYSON
Hymns to Proserpine ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
Demeter HELEN H. JACKSON
The Search after Proserpine AUBREY DE VERE
Proserpine DANTE G. ROSSETTI
Persephone in "Epic of Hades" LEWIS MORRIS
Persephone JEAN INGELOW
Song of Proserpina PERCY B. SHELLEY
The Search for Persephone RICHARD H. STODDARD
The following stanza is from Shelley's "Arethusa:"--
"Arethusa arose
From her couch of snows
In the Acroceraunian mountains,--
From cloud and from crag,
With many a jag,
Shepherding her bright fountains.
She leapt down the rocks,
With her rainbow locks
Streaming among the streams;--
Her steps paved with green
The downward ravine
Which slopes to the western gleams:
And gliding and springing
She went ever singing,
In murmurs as soft as sleep;
The earth seemed to love her,
And Heaven smiled above her,
As she lingered toward the deep."
The river Alpheus does, in fact, disappear underground in part of
its course, finding its way through subterranean channels until it
again appears on the surface. It was said that the Sicilian fountain
Arethusa was the same stream that, after passing under the sea, came
up again in Sicily. Hence the story arose that a cup thrown into the
Alpheus appeared again in Arethusa.
It is this fable of the underground course of the Alpheus that
Coleridge alludes to in his poem of Kubla Khan:--
"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man,
Down to a sunless sea."
XXXIII
Many beautiful temples were dedicated to Ceres and Proserpina, both
in Greece and Italy; and their yearly festivals, the Cerealia and
Thesmophoria, were celebrated with great pomp.
To commemorate her long search for her daughter, Ceres instituted at
Eleusis the Eleusinian Festivals and Mysteries. The Festivals were
held in February and September. The lesser festival, in February,
represented the restoration of Proserpina to her mother; the greater,
held in September, lasted nine days and represented the abduction
of Proserpina. All classes might participate in these festivals.
The Mysteries of Eleusis were witnessed only by the initiated, and
were surrounded with a veil of secrecy that has never been fully
withdrawn. The initiates passed through certain symbolic ceremonies
from one degree of mystic enlightenment to another till the highest
was attained. The Mysteries apparently resembled the ceremonies of the
modern masonic orders.
XXXIV
The following stanzas are from Swinburne's "Garden of Proserpine":--
"We are not sure of sorrow,
And joy was never sure;
To-day will die to-morrow;
Time stoops to no man's lure;
And love, grown faint and fretful,
With lips but half regretful,
Sighs, and with eyes forgetful
Weeps that no loves endure.
"From too much love of living,
From hope and fear set free,
We thank with brief thanksgiving
Whatever gods may be,
That no life lives forever;
That dead men rise up never;
That even the weariest river
Winds somewhere safe to sea."
XXXV
Besides Pluto, god of the Infernal Regions, the Greeks also worshiped
Plutus, a son of Ceres and Jason, who was known exclusively as a god
of wealth. Abandoned in infancy, he was reared by Pax, goddess of
peace, who is often represented as holding him in her lap. Because
Plutus would bestow his favors only upon good and worthy mortals,
Jupiter deprived him of his sight; and he then distributed his wealth
indiscriminately.
Virgil thus describes the crowd of spirits that wait to be ferried by
Charon across the river:--
"The shivering army stands,
And press for passage with extended hands,
Now these, now those, the surly boatman bore;
The rest he drove to distance from the shore."
XXXVI
The Furies visited the earth to punish filial disobedience, irreverence
to old age, perjury, murder, treachery to guests, and even unkindness
toward beggars. They avenged the ghosts of those who died by a violent
death and had no one to avenge them. Therefore they persecuted Orestes,
who killed his mother, and brought to punishment the murderers of
Ibycus. This poet, beloved by Apollo, was journeying to the musical
contest at Corinth, and was attacked by two robbers. As he lay dying
he called upon a flock of cranes, that were passing overhead, to take
up his cause and avenge his death. When his body was found, there
was great lamentation among the Greeks, and every effort was made
to discover the murderers, but without success. Later on, when a
vast assemblage was witnessing a play in which the Chorus personated
the Furies, the people sat terrified and still as death when the
Choristers, clad in black, appeared bearing in their fleshless hands
torches blazing with a pitchy flame. As they advanced with measured
step, the company could see their bloodless cheeks and the writhing
serpents that curled--in place of hair--around their brows. Then they
began to sing: "Woe, woe to him who has done the deed of secret murder.
We, the fearful brood of night, fasten ourselves upon him, flesh and
soul. Unwearied we pursue him; no pity checks our course; still on to
the end of life, we give no peace, no rest." As the Furies finished
their weird chant a number of dark objects came sailing across the
sky, and in the solemn stillness that had fallen over the assembly a
terrified cry arose from one of the benches, "Look, comrade, the cranes
of Ibycus!" Having informed thus far against themselves, it was not
long before the murderers were seized, and, having confessed their
crime, were put to death.
The effect upon the audience of this appearance of the Furies (as
related in the story of Ibycus) is not exaggerated, for it is recorded
that Æschylus, the tragic poet, having on one occasion represented the
Furies in a chorus of fifty performers, the terror of the spectators
was such that many fainted and were thrown into convulsions, and the
magistrates forbade a like representation for the future.
Poem:--
Cranes of Ibycus SCHILLER
XXXVII
The story of the true and false Dreams and the horn and ivory gates
rests on a double play of words: ἐλέφας (elephas), ivory, and
ἐλεφαιρομαι (elephairomai), to cheat with false hope; κερας (keras),
horn, and κραίνειν (krainein), to fulfill.
Poem:--
The Ivory Gate MORTIMER COLLINS
Dreams were sometimes sent through the gates of horn to prepare mortals
for misfortunes, as was the case of Halcyone. Ceÿx, king of Thessaly,
once left his beloved wife, Halcyone, to go on a journey to the
oracle of Delphi. On the outgoing voyage, a tempest struck the ship
on which the king was sailing, and he with all his crew perished in
the waves. Every day the queen went down to the seashore to watch for
the returning vessel, and every night she prayed to the gods to bring
her husband safely back to her. Juno, knowing that these prayers were
in vain, pitied the faithful Halcyone, and wished to prepare her for
the great sorrow that must soon come with the news of Ceÿx's death.
So she sent Iris to the cave of sleep, and the rainbow goddess bade
one of the Dreams go forth from the gate of horn to visit the sleeping
queen. The Dream glided to Halcyone's bedside, and, assuming the form
of Ceÿx, appeared before her pale, like a dead man, and dripping with
the salt sea. He told his wife that the storm had sunk his ship, and
that he himself was dead. Terrified at this vision, Halcyone sprang
from her couch and hastened to the beach, where she found the body of
her husband washed up by the waves. In pity for her grief, the gods
changed both Halcyone and Ceÿx into birds that ever afterward lived on
the waters, and were known as the Halcyon birds. These birds uttered
shrill cries of warning to all seamen whenever a storm threatened, but
were themselves so fearless of the sea that they built their nests and
hatched their young on the ever-tossing waves.
XXXVIII
The Nereides trained Arion, the wonderful winged steed that had
the power of speech, to draw his father's chariot over the waves.
He was said to be the first and the fleetest of horses, and passed
successively into the hands of Cepreus (Pelops' son), Hercules, and
Adrastus--the last of whom won all the chariot races, thanks to the
fleetness of Arion.
Neptune was a patron of horse trainers, and was himself especially
devoted to horses.
The Cyclops are described differently by different authors. Homer
speaks of them as a gigantic and lawless race of shepherds who dwelt in
Sicily. Each of them had a single eye in the center of his forehead.
The chief of the Cyclops was Polyphemus who fell in love with the
Nereid Galatea. He took great care of his appearance, harrowed his
coarse hair with a currycomb and mowed his beard with a sickle. When he
looked into the sea, he smiled complacently and said: "Beautiful seems
my beard, beautiful also my one eye--as I count beauty--and the sea
reflects the gleam of my teeth whiter than Parian Stone" (Theocritus,
Idyll VI.) Galatea did not return the Cyclops's affection, however, for
she loved the river god Acis. Polyphemus came upon the lovers one day
in the woods, and was so enraged at the sight of them that he killed
his rival with a rock. As the blood of Acis crept in a stream from
under the rock it grew paler and paler until it turned into water. Soon
it became a river which still bears the name of the unfortunate Acis.
XXXIX
Milton alludes to the ocean deities in the song at the conclusion of
"Comus."
"Sabrina fair ...
Listen and appear to us,
In name of great Oceanus,
By the earth-shaking Neptune's mace,
And Tethy's grave majestic pace;
By hoary Nereus' wrinkled look,
And the Carpathian wizard's hook,
By scaly Triton's winding shell,
And old soothsaying Glaucus' spell,
By Leucothea's lovely hands,
And her son that rules the strands;
By Thetis' tinsel-slippered feet,
And the song of Sirens sweet;" etc.
Proteus is called the Carpathian wizard because his cave was on the
island of Pharos, or Carpathos.
XL
Wordsworth's sympathy with the classical conception of nature is shown
in the following sonnet:--
"The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;
Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This sea that bares her bosom to the moon;
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are upgathered now like sleeping flowers;
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not. Great God! I'd rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn,
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn."
XLI
Palæmon was usually represented riding on a dolphin. He was called
Portumnus by the Romans, and was believed to have jurisdiction over the
ports and shores. Some authorities state that the Isthmian Games held
on the isthmus of Corinth were in honor of Neptune instead of Palæmon.
The divinities of the lakes, rivers, fountains, etc., were hoary river
gods, slender youths, beautiful maidens, and sometimes children. The
famous statue called "Father Nile" is in the Vatican at Rome.
XLII
Bacchus was worshiped very widely throughout the ancient world, and
many festivals were held in his honor. The most noted were the Greater
and Lesser Dionysia, the Liberalia, and the Bacchanalia. Bacchus is
generally represented as crowned with ivy or grape leaves and bearing
an ivy-circled wand (the thyrsus). He rides in a chariot drawn by
panthers or leopards.
Poems:--
Semele EDWARD R. SILL
Alexander's Feast JOHN DRYDEN
The Praise of Dionysus EDMUND GOSSE
Triumph of Bacchus RODEN NOËL
Sophron's Hymn to Bacchus WALTER S. LANDOR
Prelude to Songs before Sunrise ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
XLIII
As the ass was reverenced in Phrygia, the acquisition of ass's ears may
not have been such a disgrace as we imagine.
Ovid thus describes Midas' golden touch:--
"Whose powerful hands the bread no sooner hold,
Than all its substance is transformed to gold;
Up to his mouth he lifts the savory meat,
Which turns to gold as he attempts to eat:
His patron's noble juice of purple hue,
Touch'd by his lips, a gilded cordial grew,
Unfit for drink; and, wonderous to behold,
It trickles from his jaws a fluid gold.
The rich poor fool, confounded with surprise,
Starving in all his various plenty lies."
(Croxall's trans.)
XLIV
Fauns and satyrs have been favorite subjects in art and especially in
sculpture. The most famous are the Faun of Praxiteles (Vatican, copy);
the Dancing Faun (Lateran, Rome); Dancing Faun, Sleeping Faun, Drunken
Faun, and Faun and Bacchus (National Museum, Naples); Sleeping Satyr,
or the Barberini Faun (Glyptotek, Munich).
The use of the Faun in literature is best known in Hawthorne's "The
Marble Faun."
Reference is made to fauns and naiads in Milton's "Lycidas." Robert
Buchanan has two poems entitled "The Satyr" and "The Naiad."
XLV
Poems:--
Hymn to Pan JOHN KEATS
The Dead Pan ELIZABETH B. BROWNING
Hymn of Pan PERCY B. SHELLEY
Cupid and Pan WALTER S. LANDOR
Pan ROBERT BUCHANAN
Pan and Luna ROBERT BROWNING
Song of the Priest of Pan
and Song of Pan in "The
Faithful Shepherdess" FLETCHER
XLVI
Keats in "Endymion" alludes to Dryope thus:--
"She took a lute from which there pulsing came
A lively prelude, fashioning the way
In which her voice should wander. 'Twas a lay
More subtle-cadenced, more forest-wild
Than Dryope's lone lulling of her child."
Poem:--
Dryope WALTER S. LANDOR
XLVII
James R. Lowell has taken the story of Rhœcus as the subject of one of
his finest poems.
"Hear now this fairy legend of old Greece,
As full of freedom, youth and beauty still,
As the immortal freshness of that grace
Carved for all ages on some Attic frieze."
Poem:--
The Hamadryad WALTER S. LANDOR
XLVIII
Janus is not the only one among the Greek and Latin deities whose name
has been given to a part of the week or year. In Latin, the names of
the days are--dies Solis (Sunday); dies Lunæ (Moon day); dies Martis
(Mars' day); dies Mercurii (Mercury's day); dies Jovis (Jove's day);
dies Veneris (Venus's day); dies Saturni (Saturn's day).
XLIX
Austin Dobson has a poem "The Death of Procris."
Moore, in his Legendary Ballads, devotes one ballad to "Cephalus and
Procris."
L
The finest poetic treatment of the sadness of Tithonus over his
immortal old age is in Tennyson's "Tithonus." The following are a few
lines from this poem, which should be read in its entirety:--
"Let me go; take back thy gift;
Why should a man desire in any way
To vary from the kindly race of men,
Or pass beyond the goal of ordinance
Where all should pause, as is most meet for all?
* * * * *
"Coldly thy rosy shadows bathe me, cold
Are all thy lights, and cold my wrinkled feet
Upon thy glimmering thresholds, when the steam
Floats up from those dim fields about the homes
Of happy men that have the power to die."
LI
The story of Hercules's accepting Arete (Virtue) as his guide--the
"Choice of Hercules"--may be found in The Tatler, No. 97.
The Nemean games instituted by Hercules in honor of Jupiter were
celebrated at Nemea, a city of Argolis.
The most famous statue of Hercules is the Farnese Hercules in the
National Museum at Naples. Another well-known piece of sculpture is The
Infant Hercules Strangling a Serpent, in the Uffizi at Florence.
Quite worth the student's consideration are the poems "Deïaneira" and
"Herakles" in the classical but too-little-read "Epic of Hades" by
Lewis Morris. The following is an extract from the description of the
Centaur Nessus:--
"Take
This white robe. It is costly. See, my blood
Has stained it but a little. I did wrong;
I know it, and repent me. If there come
A time when he grows cold--for all the race
Of heroes wander, nor can any love
Fix theirs for long--take it and wrap him in it,
And he shall love again."
LII
Poem:--
The Fortunate Isles ANDREW LANG
The following is from Pindar:--
"The Isles of the Blest, they say,
The Isles of the Blest,
Are peaceful and happy, by night and by day,
Far away in the glorious west.
They need not the moon in that land of delight
They need not the pale, pale star;
The sun is bright, by day and night,
Where the souls of the blessed are.
They till not the ground, they plow not the wave,
They labor not, never! oh, never!
Not a tear do they shed, not a sigh do they heave,
They are happy forever and ever!"
LIII
The chosen device of Charles V. of Germany represented the Pillars of
Hercules entwined by a scroll that bore his motto "Plus Ultra." This
device, represented on the German dollar, has been adopted as the sign
of the American dollar ($).
LIV
The Pygmies were a nation of dwarfs, so called from a Greek word
meaning the cubit or measure of about thirteen inches, which was said
to be the height of these people. They lived near the sources of the
Nile, or, according to others, in India. Homer tells us that the
cranes used to migrate every winter to the Pygmies' country, where
they occasioned a fierce warfare. H. M. Stanley, in his last African
expedition, discovered a race of diminutive men that correspond very
well in appearance to those mentioned by Homer.
Terra is the same goddess as Gæa (the Earth).
Poem:--
Battle of Pygmies and Cranes JAMES BEATTIE
LV
The Apples of the Hesperides may have been suggested by the oranges of
Spain.
See the poem "The Golden Apples," in William Morris's "Earthly
Paradise."
LVI
Two poems on the Medusa which are well worth reading are "The Doom of
King Acrisius" in William Morris's "Earthly Paradise," and Shelley's
lines "On the Medusa of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery."
LVII
There are translations of Simonides's "Lament of Danaë" by William C.
Bryant and John H. Frere.
Tennyson has a singular use of the proper noun in the "Princess" when
he says:--
"Now lies the Earth all Danaë to the stars,
And all thy heart lies open unto me."
LVIII
Cassiopeia was said to have been an Ethiopian; and was, therefore,
in spite of her boasted beauty black. Milton alludes to her in "Il
Penseroso" as:
"that starred Ethiop queen that strove
To set her beauty's praise above
The Sea-Nymphs, and their powers offended."
Though Cassiopeia attained the honor of being set among the stars, she
was placed--through the efforts of the sea-nymphs--in a part of the
heavens near the pole, where she is half the time held with her head
downward, to teach her humility.
LIX
For a Gaelic Andromeda and Perseus, see "The Thirteenth Son of the King
of Erin" in Curtin's "Myths of Ireland."
Poem:--
Andromeda CHARLES KINGSLEY
LX
From the incident of Bellerophon's bearing to Iobates the letters that
contained his own death-warrant, came the expression "Bellerophontic
letters." This is used to describe any written message that a person
may deliver, unknowingly, and that is prejudicial to himself.
On Mount Helicon, the home of the Muses and Pegasus, was the fountain
Hippocrene, which was opened by a kick from the hoof of Pegasus.
Poems:--
Pegasus in Pound HENRY W. LONGFELLOW
Bellerophon in Argos and in
Lycia WILLIAM MORRIS
Pegasus in Harness SCHILLER
LXI
The most famous soothsayer was Melampus, who was also the first mortal
endowed with prophetic powers. The story is told that before his house
stood an oak tree containing a nest of serpents. The old serpents were
killed by some servants, but Melampus took care of the young ones, and
fed them carefully. One day when he was sleeping under the oak tree,
the serpents licked his ears with their tongues; and when he awoke he
was surprised to find that he now understood the languages of birds and
creeping things. In this way he was able to foretell future events, and
he became a celebrated soothsayer. Once Melampus was taken captive and
put into prison; but he overheard the woodworms saying that the timbers
of the prison were so nearly eaten through that the roof would soon
fall in. He told this to his captors, who immediately took advantage
of the warning and left the building; but not before they rewarded
Melampus by setting him free.
LXII
The best description of Hercules's lament for Hylas is in Lang's
translation of the thirteenth Idyl of Theocritus.
Poem:--
Hylas BAYARD TAYLOR
The naming of Jason's ship may have been after its builder, or from the
city of Argos, or from the word "Argo," meaning swift or white.
The story of the Symplegades may be a reference to the rolling and
clashing of icebergs. The dove incident occurs in many ancient stories,
from that of Noah down.
Poems:--
Talking Oak ALFRED TENNYSON
Life and Death of Jason WILLIAM MORRIS
Æson and King Athamas FREDERICK TENNYSON
LXIII
Medea's preparations for her magic potion are like the incantations of
the witches in Macbeth, Act IV, Sc. I.
"Round about the caldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
* * * * *
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing:
* * * * *
Witches' mummy; maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark," etc.
LXIV
Medea's sorceries were assisted by the prayers that she addressed
to Hecate, a mysterious divinity who embodied the terrors of the
darkness. She haunted cross roads and graveyards; and, being goddess
of sorcery and witchcraft, wandered only by night and was seen only by
dogs, whose barking told of her approach.
Translations of the Medea of Euripides are by Augusta Webster, William
C. Lawton, and Wodhull.
LXV
Poems on Atalanta:--
Atalanta's Race in "The
Earthly Paradise" WILLIAM MORRIS
Atalanta in Calydon ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
Hippomenes and Atalanta WALTER S. LANDOR
LXVI
Dædalus shared with Æolus the honor of inventing sails for the ships
hitherto propelled by oars.
Dædalus could never bear the idea of a rival; and when his nephew
Perdix was apprenticed to him, the lad gave such promise of excelling
his teacher in mechanical arts that Dædalus grew to hate him. One day
when Perdix was walking on the seashore he picked up the spine of a
fish, and later on he imitated it in iron, thus inventing the saw.
He also invented a pair of compasses. Then Dædalus, envious of his
nephew's skill, pushed him off a tower and killed him; but Minerva,
pitying the boy, changed him into a partridge, which bears his name.
LXVII
Castor and Pollux were deities of boxing, wrestling, and all equestrian
exercises. They were generally seen mounted on snow-white horses, and
their appearance on the battle-field was a good omen for the army among
whom they came. The Romans believed that they fought at the head of
their legions at the famous battle of Lake Regillus.
LXIX
Poems:--
Theseus and Hippolyta WALTER S. LANDOR
Ariadne FREDERICK TENNYSON
Hippolytus of Euripides
Phædra ALGERNON C. SWINBURNE
Phædra in "The Epic
of Hades" LEWIS MORRIS
LXX
The story of Œdipus is taken from the "Œdipus Rex," "Œdipus Coloneus,"
and "Antigone" of Sophocles (trans. of Plumptre or of Lewis Campbell).
Other poems:--
Swell-foot the Tyrant PERCY B. SHELLEY
The Downfall and Death
of King Œdipus EDWARD FITZGERALD
Antigone AUBREY DE VERE
The Sphinx RALPH W. EMERSON
Fragment of an Antigone MATTHEW ARNOLD
LXXI
In her "Characteristics of Women," Mrs. Jameson has compared the
character of Antigone with that of Cordelia in Shakespeare's "King
Lear." The scene of Œdipus going alone into the forest at Colonus
is similar in pathos and tragedy to Lear's defiance of the midnight
tempest on the lonely heath.
LXXII
For references in poetry to the judgment of Paris:
Judgment of Paris JAMES BEATTIE
Judgment of Paris JOHN STUART BLACKIE
Œnone ALFRED TENNYSON
LXXIII
Other minor deities not mentioned in the text are:
Victoria (Nike), goddess of victory.
Phosphor, the morning star.
Hesperus, the evening star, god of the west.
Hygeia, a daughter of Æsculapius, watched over the health of man.
The Graces, daughters of Jove, presided over banquets, dances, and
also social pleasures and polite accomplishments. They were three in
number--Euphrosyne, Aglaia, and Thalia. They are also called Gratiæ.
Momus was the god of laughter.
The Seasons were the four daughters of Jupiter and Themis. Their
collective name was Horæ (the Hours). As the Hours they attended the
sun-car of Apollo.
Fama, goddess of Fame.
Faunus, god of fields and shepherds. He was also gifted with prophetic
powers.
Fauna, the sister wife or daughter of Faunus. She was also called the
Bona Dea.
Pales, a deity who presided over cattle and pastures.
Manes, the souls of the departed who had become deified.
INDEX
Absyrtus, 273-274.
Acetes, 174-177.
Achelous, 231.
Acheron River, 140.
Achilles, 152, 208, 279.
Acis, 359.
Acrisius, 234-236, 249-250.
Acropolis, 305.
Actæon, 56.
Admete, 219.
Admetus, 33-35, 268.
Adonis, 78-79.
Adrastus, 302, 314, 356.
Æacus, 143.
Æetes, 271, 273-274.
Ægean Sea, 32, 300.
Ægeus, 277, 287-288, 291-292, 300.
Ægis, 23, 239, 249.
Ægyptus, 145.
Æneas, 80, 194, 197, 201.
Æolian Is., 200, 202.
Æolus, 18, 200-204.
Æolus, Temple of, 203.
Æsculapius, 69, 305, 336-337.
Æsepus, 208.
Æson, 262, 265, 275-276.
Æther, 347.
Æthra, 287-288, 303.
Agave, 178.
Agenor, 167.
Aglaia, 373.
Aidoneus; see Pluto.
Ajax, 279.
Alcestis, 34-35, 332.
Alcides; see Hercules.
Alcimede, 262.
Alcmene, 212.
Alecto, 144.
Alectryon, 77.
Alpheus, 133, 217, 350-351.
Althæa, 278-282.
Amalthea, 349.
Amazons, 219, 301.
Ammon, Jupiter, 325.
Amor; see Eros.
Amphion, 107, 342.
Amphitrite, 152-154.
Anchises, 79-80.
Ancient of the Deep; see Proteus.
Ancile, 118.
Andræmon, 186.
Andromeda, 245-247, 249, 367.
Anteia, 251.
Anteros, 81.
Anteus, 225-226.
Antigone, 311-312, 315-316, 372.
Antiope (1) (Amazon), 301.
Antiope (2), 342.
Aphrodite; see Venus, 337-339.
Apollo, 30-52, 59, 65, 77, 126, 142, 165, 332-333, 336, 344.
Apollo Belvedere, 333.
Aquilo; see Boreas.
Arachne, 24-26.
Arcadia, 183, 279.
Arcas, 73.
Areopagitæ, 123.
Areopagus, 122.
Ares; see Mars.
Arete, 213, 363.
Arethusa, 132-133, 350-351.
Argo, 235, 250, 267, 274, 368.
Argonauts, 156, 267, 274, 277.
Argos, 144, 251, 273, 277, 331, 368.
Argus, 68.
Ariadne, 178-179, 296-300.
Arion (1) (musician), 108.
Arion (2) (horse), 157, 356.
Aristæus, 110, 158.
Artemis; see Diana.
Asphodel, the meads of, 141.
Astarte, 339.
Atalanta, 279-286, 370.
Athamas, 164, 171, 266.
Athena; see Minerva.
Athene; see Minerva.
Athens, 29, 122, 287-288, 291, 300-301, 313, 330.
Atlas, 4, 138, 224, 226-229, 243-244.
Atropos, 142.
Augeas (Augean Stables), 217.
Aurora, 129, 201, 206-209.
Auster; see Notus.
Aventine, Mt., 221.
Avernus, Lake, 139.
Babylon, 97.
Bacchanalia, 359.
Bacchanals, 177.
Bacchantes, 113, 173, 177.
Bacchus, 125, 167-182, 299, 359.
Baucis, 70-72.
Bear, Myth of Great and Little, 73.
Bellerophon, 243, 251-261.
Bellerophontic Letters, 367.
Bellona, 117.
Berenice, 339.
Beroë, 169.
Biton, 331.
Bœotia, 120, 168.
Bona Dea, 373.
Boreas, 201, 204, 269.
Cacus, 221.
Cadmus, 120-122, 271.
Caduceus, the, 66.
Calais, 204.
Calliope, 109, 345.
Callisto, 73.
Calydon, 278-279.
Calydonian Hunt, 278-282.
Campus Martius, 119.
Cancer, 215.
Capitol, 325.
Carpathian Wizard, 358.
Cassiopeia, 245, 366.
Castor, 268, 279, 303, 371.
Caucasus, Mt., 6, 224.
Celeus, 130.
Centaur, 69, 212, 216, 232-233, 302.
Cephalus, 207-208, 362.
Cepheus, 248.
Cepreus, 356.
Cerberus, 91, 111, 139, 229.
Cerealia, 351.
Ceres, 88, 129-136, 137, 146, 156, 188, 349, 351.
Cerynea, Stag of, 216.
Cestus, the, 337.
Ceÿx, 355-356.
Chaos, 347.
Charon, 91, 140, 353.
Charybdis, 163.
Chimæra, 253, 258-260.
Chios, 335.
Chiron, 69, 212, 216, 262.
Cilicia, 168.
Cilix, 167.
Circe, 162.
Cithæron, Mt., 177.
Clashing Is., 270-271.
Cleobis, 331.
Clio, 344.
Clotho, 142.
Clymene, 47.
Clytie, 45, 334.
Cnidos, Venus of, 338.
Cocytus, 139.
Cœus, 348.
Colchis, 266, 271-273, 278.
Colonus, 312.
Colossus of Rhodes, 333.
Consentes; see Pan.
Cora; see Proserpina.
Corinth, 164, 251, 254, 289, 306-307, 359.
Cornucopia, 232.
Corona, 179.
Coronis, 69, 142.
Corus, 203.
Crab, 215.
Creon, 213, 315-316.
Crete, 293, 295.
Creusa, 277.
Crius, 348.
Cronos (Cronus); see Saturn.
Crumissa, 156.
Cupid, 81-92, 126, 340.
Cyane River, 128-129, 132.
Cybele; see Rhea.
Cyclops, 137, 335, 348, 357.
Cycnus, 51.
Cynthia; see Diana.
Cynthius; see Apollo.
Cyparissus, 336.
Cyprus, 75, 104, 284.
Cyrene, 158.
Cytherea; see Venus.
Dædalus, 293-294, 370.
Danaë, 235-237, 249, 366.
Danaïdes, 111, 144-145.
Danaüs, 144-145, 235.
Daphne, 45-47.
Death; see Mors.
Deïaneira, 231-234.
Delos, 32, 53, 333.
Delphi, oracle of, 20, 168, 306-308, 311, 328, 355.
Deluge, The Story of the, 16, 21, 328.
Demeter; see Ceres.
Demios, 345.
Destiny, 325.
Deucalion, 19, 328.
Dia, 174.
Diana, 53-63, 133, 278, 305.
Diana of the Ephesians, 334.
Diana of Versailles, 335.
Diana of the Hind, 335.
Diomede, 330.
Diomedes, 218.
Dione (1) (goddess), 337.
Dione (2); see Venus.
Dionysia, 359.
Dionysus; see Bacchus.
Dirce, 343.
Dis; see Pluto.
Discordia, 318, 345.
Dodona, 267, 325-326.
Doris, 152.
Dreams, 149, 355-356.
Dryads, 185, 188.
Dryope, 186-187, 361.
Echo, 93-95.
Egeria, 305.
Egypt, 175.
Eleusinian Festivals, 351.
Eleusinian Mysteries, 351-352.
Eleusis, 130, 136, 351.
Elgin Marbles, 330.
Elis, 132, 217.
Elysian Fields, 141, 332.
Endymion, 61-63, 335.
Enna, Vale of, 127.
Eos; see Aurora.
Ephesus, 334.
Ephialtes, 119.
Epidaurus, 336.
Epimetheus, 4, 8-15, 138.
Epirus, 326.
Erato, 345.
Erebus, 347.
Eridanus River, 51, 223, 334.
Erinnys; see Furies.
Eris; see Discordia.
Eros; see Cupid. Also page 347.
Erymanthus, Mt., 216.
Erysichthon, 188-191.
Erythea, 221.
Eteocles, 311, 314-315.
Etna, Mt., 124-125, 127, 200.
Eumenides; see Furies.
Euphrosyne, 373.
Europa, 74, 167.
Eurus, 201, 203.
Eurydice, 107-114, 160.
Eurystheus, 214, etc.
Eurytion, 221.
Euterpe, 344.
Evenus, 165.
Fama, 373.
Famine, Goddess of, 189.
Farnese Bull, 343.
Farnese Hercules, 363.
Fates, 142, 317.
Father Nile, 359.
Fauna, 373.
Fauns, 183, 185, 360.
Faunus, 373.
Flora, 209.
Floralia, 210.
Fortuna, 232.
Forum, 194, 205.
Furies, 111, 144, 313, 353-354.
Gæa, 347.
Galatea (1), (and Pygmalion), 104-106.
Galatea (2), (Nereid), 152, 357.
Ganymede, 116.
Ge; see Gæa.
Geryon, 221.
Gibraltar, 221.
Glauce, 277.
Glaucus, 161-162.
Gorgons, 237-238, 241-242.
Gorgon's Cave, 241.
Graces, 372.
Grææ; see Gray Old Women.
Gratiæ; see Graces.
Gray Old Women, 239-240.
Hades (1), 35, 79, 91, 110, 127, 138-151, 199, 303-304, 313.
Hades (2); see Pluto.
Hæmon, 316.
Halcyon birds, 356.
Halcyone, 355-356.
Hamadryads, 185-186, 188, 191, 210.
Harmonia, 122, 168.
Harpies, 204, 269.
Hebe, 115, 234.
Hecate, 370.
Hecuba, 320.
Helen, 74, 302-303, 322.
Heliades, 334.
Helicon, Mt., 254, 257, 367.
Helios; see Apollo.
Helle, 266.
Hellespont, 100, 266, 341.
Hemera, 347.
Hephæstia, 347.
Hephæstus; see Vulcan.
Hera; see Juno.
Heracles; see Hercules.
Hercules, 6, 155, 212-234, 268-269, 322, 332, 356, 363, 368.
Here; see Juno.
Hermes; see Mercury.
Hero, 100-104.
Hesione, 155-156, 220.
Hesperides, 223.
Hesperides, Garden of, 181, 220, 223, 227, 365.
Hesperus (Hesper), 129, 223, 372.
Hestia; see Vesta.
Hippocrene, 367.
Hippodamia, 302.
Hippolyte (Hippolyta), 219-220, 301.
Hippolytus, 301, 304-305.
Hippomenes, 283-286.
Horæ, 373.
Hours, 206.
Hupnos; see Somnus.
Hyacinthus, 68, 335-336.
Hydra, 215.
Hygeia (Hygea), 372.
Hylas, 268, 368.
Hymen, 110.
Hyperion, 348.
Hypermnestra, 145, 235.
Iapetus, 348.
Ibycus, 353.
Icarian Sea, 294.
Icarus, 293-294.
Ida, Mt., 116, 319-320, 323, 349.
Idas, 165-166.
Ilia (1), (one of Titanides), 348.
Ilia (2), (Rhea Silvia), 117.
Ino, 164, 171-172, 266.
Io, 66-68.
Iobates, 252-253, 260.
Iolaus, 215, 219.
Iole, 233.
Ionian Sea, 70.
Iphitus, 230.
Iris, 206, 356.
Isles of the Blest, 220-221, 364.
Ismene, 311.
Istar, 339.
Isthmian Games, 164, 359.
Itylus (Itys), 344.
Ixion, 111, 147, 303.
Janus, 204-206, 362.
Jasius, 279.
Jason, 156, 262-277, 279.
Jocasta, 306, 309, 311-312, 315.
Jove; see Jupiter.
Juno, 23, 30, 31, 66-67, 73-74, 93, 123-124, 137, 169-170, 201-202,
212-213, 215, 219, 264, 319-320, 331, 346, 349.
Jupiter, 1-3, 33, 67, 70-72, 73-74, 76, 93, 123, 134, 137, 168-171,
199, 235, 261, 267, 317-318, 325-327, 344, 349.
Jupiter Ammon, temple of, 325-326.
Juventas; see Hebe.
Kakia, 213.
Lachesis, 142.
Laius, 306, 308, 311.
Laomedon, 154-156, 220, 230.
Lapithæ, 301-302.
Lara, 198-199.
Lares, 198-199.
Latmus, Mt., 62.
Latona, 31-32, 53.
Leander, 100-104, 340.
Learchus, 172.
Leda, 74, 302.
Lelaps, 207.
Lerna, 215.
Lethe, 141, 148.
Leto; see Latona.
Leucothea, 164.
Liber; see Bacchus.
Liberalia, 359.
Libia, 326.
Lichas, 234.
Lipari Is.; see Æolian Is.
Lotis, 187.
Lycia, 251-253.
Lycomedes, 305.
Lycus, 342.
Lydia, 180, 230.
Lynceus, 235.
Lyncus, 136.
Lyra, 343.
Mæonia, 174.
Maia, 64.
Manes, 373.
Marpessa, 165-166.
Mars, 77, 116-123, 271, 345.
Mars, Field of, 119.
Marsyas, 37-40.
Matronalia, 331.
Medea, 272-277, 291-292, 369-370.
Media, 292.
Medici (Venus de), 338.
Medusa, 237, 241-242, 244, 248, 366.
Megæra, 144.
Megara, 213.
Melampus, 367-368.
Meleager, 231, 268, 278-282.
Melian Nymphs, 349.
Melicertes, 164, 172.
Melpomene, 345.
Memnon, 208-209.
Menelaus, 322.
Mercury, 9, 64-72, 79, 120, 125, 135, 183, 198-199, 206, 214, 238.
Merope, 335.
Metis, 349.
Metus, 345.
Midas, 40-43, 180-182, 360.
Milanion, 283.
Milo (Melos) (Venus of), 337.
Minerva, 22-29, 38, 238, 255, 319-321, 329-330, 370.
Minos (1), (Judge in Hades), 143.
Minos (2), (King), 218, 293, 296.
Minotaur, 218, 293, 295-298.
Mnemosyne, 137, 344, 348.
Momus, 373.
Morpheus, 149.
Mors, 148, 150.
Musagetes, 344.
Muses, 39, 254, 344.
Mycenæ, 250.
Naiads, 185, 198, 361.
Narcissus, 94-97.
Naxos, 175, 178, 299.
Nemea, 363.
Nemean Games, 363.
Nemean Lion, 214.
Nemesis, 144.
Nephele, 266.
Neptune, 3, 28, 32, 36, 122, 137, 152-157, 165-166, 190, 202, 218,
243, 266, 304, 349, 357, 359.
Nereids, 152, 157, 356.
Nereus, 152, 318.
Nessus, 232-234, 364.
Nestor, 279-280.
Nightmares, 149.
Nike (Nice); see Victoria.
Ninus, 98.
Niobe, 54, 145.
Notus, 201, 203.
Nox; see Nyx.
Numa Pompilius, 196, 205.
Nysa, Mt., 172.
Nysiades, 172.
Nyx, 347.
Oceanides, 157.
Oceanus, 152, 347.
Ocrisia, 346.
Odysseus; see Ulysses.
Œdipus, 306-316, 371.
Œneus, 231, 278.
Œnone, 320, 322-323, 372.
Œnopion, 335.
Œta, Mt. (Œte), 234.
Olympia, 326.
Olympiads, 326.
Olympic Games, 326.
Olympus, 1, 2, 3, 138, 261, 317.
Omphale, 230.
Oneicopompus; see Mercury.
Ops; see Rhea.
Orcus; see Pluto.
Oreads, 185, 189.
Orestes, 353.
Orion, 57-59, 335.
Orithyia, 204.
Orpheus, 107-114, 160, 173, 268, 343.
Otus, 119.
Pactolus, 182.
Palæmon, 164, 358.
Pales, 373.
Palladium, 329-330.
Pallas; see Minerva.
Pallor, 345.
Pan, 40-41, 183-185, 210, 361.
Panathenæa, 330.
Pandora, 8-15.
Parcæ; see Fates.
Paris, 319-323, 372.
Parnassus, 19, 328.
Parthenium, Mt., 279.
Parthenon, 29, 330.
Pax, 353.
Pegasus, 243, 254-261, 367.
Peleus, 279, 317.
Pelias, 262, 264-265, 274-276.
Pelion, Mt., 267.
Pelops, 146.
Penates, 194, 198.
Peneus, 46, 217.
Pentheus, 173-174, 177-178.
Peplus, the, 330.
Perdix, 370.
Periphetes, 288-289.
Persephone; see Proserpina.
Perseus, 236-250, 367.
Phædra, 304-305.
Phaëton, 47-52, 334.
Pherephatta; see Proserpina.
Phidias, 29, 326, 330.
Philemon, 70-72.
Philoctetes, 234, 322.
Philomela, 343, 344.
Philonoë, 253, 260.
Phineus (1), 247-248.
Phineus (2) (soothsayer), 269-270.
Phlegethon River, 140, 144.
Phocis, 328.
Phœbe (1), (one of Titanides), 348.
Phœbe (2); see Diana.
Phœbus; see Apollo.
Phœnicia, 167.
Phœnix, 167.
Phosphor, 372.
Phrygia, 173, 360.
Phryxus, 266.
Phthia, 317.
Pillars of Hercules, 221, 365.
Pine-Bender; see Sinis.
Pirene, 254, 256.
Pirithous, 279, 301-303.
Pleiades, 58.
Plenty, Goddess of; see Fortuna.
Plexippus, 281.
Pluto, 3, 112, 127, 129, 135, 137-147, 229, 302, 349.
Plutus, 352-353.
Pollux, 268, 279, 303, 371.
Polybus, 306.
Polydectes, 237-238.
Polyhymnia, 345.
Polyidus, 254.
Polynices, 311, 314-316.
Polyphemus, 153.
Pomona, 210-211.
Pontus, 347.
Portumnus; see Palæmon, 359.
Poseidon; see Neptune.
Praxiteles, 337.
Priam, 230, 320, 322.
Priapus, 187.
Procne, 343-344.
Procris, 207-208, 362.
Procrustes, 290-291.
Prœtus, 251.
Prometheus, 4-6, 138, 224.
Proserpina, 91, 127-135, 142, 302, 352.
Proserpine; see Proserpina.
Proteus, 157, 159, 223-224, 358.
Psyche, 81-92.
Psychopompus; see Mercury.
Pygmalion, 104-106, 342.
Pygmies, 224-225, 365.
Pyramus, 97-100, 341.
Pyrrha, 19, 328.
Pytheus; see Apollo.
Pythia, 329.
Pythian Games, 329.
Python, 36, 329, 332.
Quirinal, Mt., 346.
Quirinalia, 246.
Quirinus, 345.
Remus, 118.
Rhadamanthus, 142.
Rhea, 137, 173, 286, 348-349.
Rhea Silvia, 117.
Rhœcus, 191-192, 362.
Romulus, 118, 345.
Sagittarius, 216.
Salii, 119.
Salmoneus, 146.
Saturn, 137, 348-349.
Satyrs, 172, 183, 360.
Sciron, 289.
Scylla, 162-164.
Scyros, 305.
Scythia, 136.
Seasons, 373.
Selene; see Diana.
Semele, 167-171.
Seriphus, 237.
Servius Tullius, 346.
Sestus, 100.
Seven against Thebes, 315.
Seven Wonders, 327.
Sicily, 127, 131.
Silenus, 172, 179-180.
Silvia; see Rhea Silvia.
Sinis, 290.
Sirius, 57.
Sisyphus, 111, 147, 251.
Sleep, Cave of, 148-151, 206.
Sleep, God of, 148.
Sleep, Spirit of, 92.
Sol; see Apollo.
Somnus, 148.
Sparta, 303, 322.
Speaking Oak, 267.
Sphinx, 309-310.
Stellio, 130.
Stretcher, The; see Procrustes.
Stymphalus, Lake, 217.
Styx, 49, 72, 141, 170.
Sylvanus, 210.
Symplegades, 270-271, 368.
Syrinx, 184.
Talus, 295-296, 299.
Tantalus, 111, 145.
Tartarus, 137, 139, 143-148, 348.
Telamon, 230, 279-280.
Telephassa, 167.
Tellus; see Gæa.
Tereus, 343.
Terpsichore, 345.
Terra; see Gæa.
Tethys, 152.
Thalia, 344, 373.
Thanatos; see Mors.
Thebes, 107, 121, 168, 171, 173, 306, 308-309, 311-314, 326.
Themis, 81, 138, 143, 348.
Theophane, 156.
Theseus, 218, 268, 277, 279-280, 286-305, 330.
Thesmophoria, 351.
Thessaly, 33, 189, 355.
Thetis, 153, 316-318, 348.
Thisbe, 97-100, 341.
Thrace, 218, 269.
Thunderer, The; see Jupiter.
Thyrsus, the, 359.
Tiber, 195-196, 337.
Tisiphone, 144, 171.
Titanides, 348.
Titans, 137-138, 152, 347-348.
Tithonus, 208, 362-363.
Tityus, 147.
Tmolus, 41.
Toxeus, 281.
Triptolemus, 136.
Triton, 157.
Troy, 79, 116, 154, 194, 220, 320.
Tuccia, 196.
Ulysses, 202-203, 330.
Urania, 345.
Uranus, 347-348.
Veneralia, 339.
Venus, 78-80, 82-83, 89-92, 105, 126, 284-285, 319-321, 337-339.
Venus of Milo, 327.
Vertumnus, 210-211.
Vesta, 117, 136, 193-197, 349.
Vestalia, 197.
Vestals, 195-196.
Vesuvius, 139.
Victoria, 372.
Vulcan, 76-78, 123-126, 285, 346.
Vulcanalia, 347.
Winds, 200-201, 203.
Winds, Tower of the, 203.
Wizard of the Deep; see Proteus.
Zephyrus, 68, 83, 86, 133, 201, 203, 209.
Zetes, 204.
Zethus, 342.
Zeus; see Jupiter.
Zodiac, 303.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See Appendix, page 325.
[2] See Appendix, page 327.
[3] See Appendix, page 327.
[4] See Appendix, page 328.
[5] See Appendix, page 328.
[6] See Appendix, page 329.
[7] From the Greek word "parthenos," which means "maiden."
[8] See Appendix, page 331.
[9] See Appendix, page 332.
[10] See Appendix, page 332.
[11] See Appendix, page 334.
[12] See Appendix, page 333.
[13] See Appendix, page 334.
[14] See Appendix, page 334.
[15] See Appendix, page 335.
[16] See Appendix, page 335.
[17] Mercury's wand was called the Caduceus.
[18] See Appendix, page 335.
[19] Cf. "Story of Cyparissus," Appendix, page 336.
[20] See Appendix, page 336.
[21] See Appendix, page 337.
[22] See Appendix, page 338.
[23] See Appendix, page 340.
[24] See Appendix, page 341.
[25] See Appendix, page 341.
[26] See Appendix, page 341.
[27] See Appendix, page 342.
[28] See the "Story of Dirce," Appendix, page 342.
[29] See Appendix, page 345.
[30] See Appendix, page 343.
[31] See Appendix, page 345.
[32] She was also known as Ilia.
[33] See page 74.
[34] See Appendix, page 346.
[35] See page 76.
[36] See Appendix, page 349.
[37] See Appendix, page 351.
[38] See Appendix page 350.
[39] See Appendix, page 347.
[40] Appendix, page 357.
[41] See Appendix, page 352.
[42] Also called Erinnys or Eumenides. Their names were Alecto,
Tisiphone, and Megæra. See Appendix, page 353.
[43] See Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, Book XI, line 590, etc.
[44] See "Story of Ceÿx and Halcyone," Appendix, page 355.
[45] Two gates of sleep there are: one of horn, through which pass
the true dreams; the other of shining white ivory, through which the
spirits send false dreams up to the world.
[46] Pale Death steps with the same foot to the huts of the poor and
the palaces of kings.
[47] See Appendix, page 356.
[48] See Appendix, page 357.
[49] See page 36.
[50] See page 230.
[51] See Appendix, page 356.
[52] See page 110.
[53] See Appendix, page 359.
[54] See "Story of the Dragon's Teeth," page 121.
[55] See Appendix, page 359.
[56] See page 164.
[57] See page 113.
[58] Old name for Naxos.
[59] See page 299.
[60] See page 40.
[61] See Appendix, page 360.
[62] "Pactolus singeth over golden sands."--GRAY.
[63] See Appendix, page 361.
[64] See Appendix, page 360.
[65] See Appendix, page 361.
[66] See Appendix, page 362.
[67] Here in a vast cave, King Æolus keeps under his control the
struggling winds and roaring tempests, and holds them chained in
prison. They, chafing at restraint, surge against their barriers with
the great rumbling of a mountain. Æolus sits in a lofty stronghold,
holding a scepter, and soothes their feeling and softens their wrath.
If he did not do this, they would surely carry with them in rapid
course the seas and lands and the deep sky and sweep these with them to
the high heavens.
[68] See page 269.
[69] See Appendix, page 362.
[70] See Appendix, page 362.
[71] See Appendix, page 362.
[72] See Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, Book XIV, line 645.
[73] See Ovid, _Metamorphoses_, Book XIV, line 655.
[74] See Appendix, page 363.
[75] Some authorities state that Hippolyte was not killed, but lived to
marry the hero Theseus. See page 301.
[76] See page 155.
[77] See Appendix, page 364.
[78] See page 6.
[79] See Appendix, page 365.
[80] See Appendix, page 365.
[81] According to some stories, Atlas was the father of the Hesperides
and owner of the Garden.
[82] See page 302.
[83] See page 35.
[84] See page 155.
[85] See page 145.
[86] See Appendix, page 366.
[87] See Appendix, page 366.
[88] See Appendix, page 367.
[89] See Appendix, page 367.
[90] See Appendix, page 367.
[91] See page 243.
[92] Hawthorne's _Wonder Book_, "The Chimæra."
[93] See Appendix, page 368.
[94] See Appendix, page 368.
[95] See page 121.
[96] See Appendix, page 369.
[97] Sometimes given as Glauce.
[98] Sometimes given as Milanion.
[99] Ovid, _Metam._, Book X, line 610.
[100] See Appendix, page 370.
[101] See page 218.
[102] See Appendix, page 370.
[103] See page 179.
[104] Some authorities say that it was Hippolyte whom Theseus married,
and that she was therefore not slain by Hercules. This is the story
that Shakespeare adopted in "Midsummer-Night's Dream."
[105] See page 74.
[106] See Appendix, page 371.
[107] See page 229.
[108] See Appendix, page 371.
[109] Sophocles, _Œdipus the King_.
[110] See Appendix, pages 371, 372.
[111] This was the same Creon whose daughter Megara had married
Hercules.
[112] See page 234.
Transcriber's Notes:
In versions of this eBook that cannot display Greek (page 355), only
the author's transliterations are included.
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not
changed.
Simple typographical errors were corrected; occasional unbalanced
quotation marks retained.
Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.
When accent marks or spelling of some Index entries differed from the
referenced text, the Index entries were changed. However, the Index was
not systematically checked for such errors.
Illustrations: the "Venus de Milo" listed as facing page 78 was missing
from the copy of the book used to prepare this etext.
Page 95: "cool stream" was misprinted as "cool steam".
Page 150: "quarumaltera" is a misprint for "quarum altera".
Page 201: "Sceptratenens" is a misprint for "Sceptra tenens";
"temperatiras" is a misprint for "temperat iras".
Page 307: "bewailing the cruel fat" must be a misprint for "fate".
Page 356: "Pelops'" was misprinted as "Pelop's"; changed here.
Page 370: "Euripides" was printed as "Eurypides", but was changed to
match the spelling on two other pages.
End of Project Gutenberg's Stories of Old Greece and Rome, by Emilie Kip Baker